An international mission investigating the human rights conditions of theArab citizens in the Naqab begins its work today, Sunday, 8 March 2009. Themission's goal is to illuminate the facts of Arab rights to land ownership,adequate housing ad services, and the violation of those rights. Thefact-finding team is comprised of prominent experts in the fields of humanrights, physical planning, international law and indigenous peoplesaffairs. The team includes experts from Europe, the Americas, Asia andAfrica, as well as a local team of experts.

The Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages of al-Naqab (RCUV) hasbeen working for over a year to prepare for this mission. Due to politicalconstraints, however, the RCUV's work has been discrete, but runningparallel to the highly publicized Goldberg Commission. The Israeli Knessetformed that Commission to advise the government on the establishment ofwhat is described as an "Authority for Regulating the Settlement of Bedouinin the Negev." The Housing and Land Rights Network of the HabitatInternational Coalition, a global alliance operating to defense housing andland rights for over 30 years, has worked in cooperation with the RCUV toplan and select international experts for this investigative task. Theannouncement of the fact-finding mission has been delayed until themission's work begins, in order to avoid official interference that wouldimpede the mission.

Following considerable study of the situation in al-Naqab by way ofdocumentary sources, the fact-finding mission team has begun its in-countrywork this morning. To provide for verification of findings, the programwill involve several site visits with Arab land owners, displaced anddispossessed persons through Saturday. The mission will end by issuing aset of preliminary findings and recommendation at the end of the visit, andissue its full report in the near future.

The RCUV considers the timing of this mission to be especially auspicious,given the current formation of the far-right government in Israel, andwhile the people of al-Naqab have suffered from serial deceptions bygovernments that have claimed to seek a just solution to the issue of Arablands and the recognition of the "unrecognized" villages. In fact, theState only seeks further confiscation of Arab lands in al-Naqab and tocontinue dismissing and denying services to some 46 "unrecognized"villages.

The RCUV sees the Goldberg Commission's recommendations as theconfirmation of its worst fears, demonstrating that its purpose is no lessthat to serve as an instrument of more government pressure to seize as muchArab land as possible in al-Naqab for the settlement of another one millionJewish settlers.

The fact-finding mission team is composed of the following members:The members of the international team include:• Anthony Coon, emeritus professor of urban planning at StrathclydeUniversity, Glasgow (Scotland);• Steve Kahanovitz, lawyer with the Legal Resources Center in Cape Town,South Africa;• Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing(2001-08) and, currently, coordinator of HIC-HLRN South Asia RegionalProgramme in Mumbai, India;• Rudolfo Stavenhagen, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation ofthe human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people (2001–08)and Mexican sociologist and professor at Colégio de México (Mexico City).The members of the local team include:• Khalil al-'Amur, resident of al-Sirra unrecognized village and ateacher of mathematics;• Salman Abu Sitta, founder and President of Palestine Land Society(London) and researcher on Palestine land and people;• Jihad al-Sana', lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and ComputerScience (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba) and resident ofLaqiyya, one of the seven government-planned townships in al-Naqab;• Oren Yiftachel, professor of urban planning, geography and politicalscience at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba;• Suhad Bishara, lawyer with Adalah: The Legal Centre for Arab MinorityRights in Israel.

The mission is charged with the following tasks:1. Research and study the situation of the Arabs in al-Naqab and theviolations of their rights, and to know the depth and dimensions and sourceof the suffering that they are living, particularly in the unrecognizedvillages;2. Study the historical rights of the Arabs of al-Naqab to their land, inparticular their property rights to those lands according to internationalnorms;3. Study and investigate the laws, policies and practices with relation toland confiscation and discrimination affecting tenure and equitabledistribution of lands;4. Investigate the property rights of Arab citizens' of al-Naqab in lightof international laws and norms;5. Investigate the laws, policies and practices of Israeli governments asthey pose obstacles to enjoyment of the rights to land, housing andservices affecting the residents of the unrecognized villages;6. Research the possibilities of recognizing the "unrecognized" villageson their lands;7. Research the prospects of establishing new villages for residents whodo not own land;8. Submit recommendations concerning any discriminatory policies withregard to land confiscation, house demolition, denial of services andaffecting the essentials of life and livelihood.